Two out of Seven Ain’t Good

On Thursday, 15^th May 2014 I visited a group of country churches in the Deanery of Pershore, Worcestershire.  The Benefice of Abberton, Bishampton, Flyford Flavell, Grafton Flyford, Naunton Beauchamp, North Piddle, and Throckmorton.  It was a bright and sunny day and my mother had packed me a lunch of thickly-cut ham and cheese sandwiches, crisps, fruit, chocolate, and two bottles of pop.  (“Are you sure that that’ll be enough?)  I had high hopes that day as I drove east on the A422, past Spetchley Church (now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust) and took the small B road south to Naunton Beachamp. I parked in a small space near the gate of St Bartholemew’s Church (15^th century tower) and wandered through the unkempt grass of the churchyard.  I tried the door.  It was locked.

On to Bishampton St James and then the Throckmorton Chapelry.  To my delight both buildings were open.  More about them in the following posts!

Then to North Piddle St Michael and All Angels (a medieval church rebuilt with an interesting avenue of Irish yew trees.) It was located on a leafy cul-de-sac where a surly man with a huge machine was clearing the drainage ditches by the roadside and who seemed quite put out that he had to move his digger to allow me to pass to the church.  It needn’t have mattered.  It was locked.

 

So was Flyford Flavell St Peter’s (Norman origin with later additions) and Abberton St Edburgha (1881 construction using medieval stones as outer cladding.)  Likewise St John the Baptist at Grafton Flyford (14^th century tower) which has been locked on every attempted visit over the years.

 

It was lunchtime so I pulled off the road and sat on a stile where the path led alongside a cornfield and on to what looked like an old apple orchard.  It had been a generally frustrating morning but lunch restored my morale.  It is always uplifting to spend time at peace in the Worcestershire countryside, and a picnic adds to this! It was a warm early afternoon so I made my way to the Boot Inn at Flyford Flavell (14^th century with later additions!) for a thirst-quenching pint of shandy.  It was a good place to reflect on the perceived but disappointing need to keep churches locked.  And with the two exceptions within this Benefice I tried to understand the issue.  It wasn’t a common pattern in this part of rural Worcester because all around the county churches are either open to visitors or else a key is made available close-by.  No, it was simply the apparent practice of this Benefice.

Add to these thoughts of mine the fact that, according to Church of England information, the incumbent does not even live within her own Benefice but in another village, and I wonder even more if these delightful churches are taken seriously as places of pilgrimage, passing prayer and visit.  Or are they just taken for granted?  And locked accordingly.

Dormston St Nicholas, Worcestershire

When tramping around the rural churches of any county food is of the essence, and that day I had stopped my car in a narrow lay-by on the A422 west of Inkberrow and munched my way through a cheese and onion pasty and a Snickers bar.  The nearby farm gate read Quarry Pit Farm and I wondered what type of quarry it had been in its day.  There was nothing marked on the map and so that would remain an unanswered question. 

Three quarters of a mile after lunch I turned right and north into a narrow lane that led uphill to the hamlet of Dormston.  I had heard of its church and even though I grew up just three miles as the crow flies to the west I had never seen it!  And it’s easy to miss for it is a very tiny parish.

Dormston (Deormodesealdtune in the 10^th century and Dormestun just a hundred years later) is first mentioned in history when, and we don’t know the exact year, King Edgar the First (“The Peaceful” 943-975) gave lands in the village to the monks of Pershore Abbey some sixteen miles away.  As an aside Edgar was not a very popular man.  He was described as “extremely small both in stature and bulk.”[1.]

The County History describes Dormston as “a small parish, which contains only 820 acres, lies on the road from Worcester to Alcester, which runs through it on the south. On a road branching north from this is the small and scattered village, which consists of a few old cottages grouped round the church.” [2.] A short but accurate visual description. 

Noakes twins Dormston with the neighboring parish of Kington, describing their populations as “limited and straggling.”  Of interest he also notes the poverty of the place. “Kington is what is called a " discharged rectory," value only £100; while Dormstone, a "perpetual curacy exonerated," is but about £50! If both livings were held by the same gentleman (as they should be) he would be by no means a subject for envy as a pluralist!” [3.]

Approaching the church the first things one sees is the black and white tower which is of 15^th century origin, and leans ever-so-slightly. (Or was it me?)  Mee describes these churches with half-timbered constructions as “Forest Churches” [4.] but I’ve looked and dug and for the life of me can’t figure out where he got that term.  But who am I to argue with the venerable Arthur Mee?

It’s a glorious church inside and out!  Avoiding architectural terminology I might describe the interior as “light and messy!”  Large, plain glass windows, almost disproportionate in size to the south wall, catch the sun perfectly.  This is very much a 14^th century nave – the chancel was rebuilt much later in the 19^th century but is in keeping with the older lines. The rear pews of the church, which on that day held a variety of second-hand books for sale watched over by a teddy bear, were described in the guide leaflet as “old” but no date was offered.  I suggest that they were early 16^th century.  

The font is plain and 15^th century, but parish history records that a part of a Norman font bowl was found buried under it, pointing to a much earlier church building on this site. 

There is a rather fine example of a Tudor age chair in the sanctuary.

And there is a wonderful story about the dedication of the church. For years the name of the patron saint was unknown, but an erstwhile vicar of Dormston, the Reverend TP Wadley (dates unknown at time of writing but I will look further) came across a number of papers which included the last will and testament of a Thomas Hemmyg, 1512, who left a bushel of barley to:

“Eccile sci nycolla de Dormystun.”  (To the church of St Nicholas at Dormston.)  And so the name was given, or re-given at that moment. [5.]

Three gems?  Well, firstly the tower.  Whatever its correct architectural name it is quite magnificent.  Secondly the late 14^th century roof beams are superb.  

 

And finally the invisible but audible treasures that are three bells in the tower which have been rung down the centuries.  Dated and inscribed they are:

God Save Our King 1640

Jesus Be Our Speed 1631

Sancta Maria Ora Pro Nobis (15^th century with Lombardic letters.)

O that they would have been rung on the day of my visit!

[1.] Gesta Regnum Anglorum.  William of Malmesbury 1080-1143.

[2.] A History of the County of Worcester.  Volume 4. 1924. Pages 65-68.

[3.] Noake's Guide to Worcestershire 1868. Page 233.

[4.] Worcestershire.  Arthur Mee. 1968 New Edition. (The King’s England.)

[5.] Parish History Leaflet

OS Grid reference:  SO9857